Under new Federal Emergency Management Agency flood maps that were unveiled in January and take effect in July, homeowners in Valley Stream would see their base flood elevations reduced, but more than 900 homes would still remain in the high-risk food zone.

He went on to say that if a home has a basement, then there is no way to get out of the high-risk flood zone, but if the home’s lowest point happens to be a crawl space, the homeowner could install vents, according to FEMA’s regulations, that would increase the home’s lowest point. “The whole idea of the venting is that if the water was to rise it’s got to be allowed to go into your crawl space and pass out the other side,” he said.

Joe Margolin, a trustee in the Community Association and Gibson homeowner, is one of many residents whose home was not in the high-risk flood zone prior to 2009, and even though the BFE has been restored to eight feet, will still remain in the high-risk zone under the new maps.

“If you were not in the high-risk flood zone prior to 2009, [getting a LOMA] might be something you want to look into,” Crupi said, “because it might possibly get you out of the high-risk zone and avoid the higher insurance policy.”

The village has the option to appeal the new maps up until July, but Mayor Ed Fare has stated that he doesn’t want to jeopardize the 1,600 homes that are getting out of the high-risk zone already. At last week’s meeting, de Bruin stated that in order to appeal the maps, the village would have to hire and engineering firm that would cost “hundreds of thousands of dollars.” De Bruin added that the challenge for the village “would be an impossible undertaking.”